FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 1, 2020 National Consumer Law Center contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) Boston - Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a policy guidance outlining the “responsibilities” of credit bureaus and furnishers (i.e., creditors and debt collectors) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following is a statement in response from Chi Chi Wu, staff [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 1, 2020 National Consumer Law Center contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Department of the Treasury must act immediately to ensure that the stimulus payments about to go out to millions of Americans are available for food and necessities and are not grabbed by debt collectors, according to [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 27, 2020 National Consumer Law Center Contacts: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) Boston - Advocates at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) called on governors across the nation to take immediate action pursuant to their authority granted under each state’s emergency management act to ensure utility customers remain connected to essential electric, gas, water, [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 26, 2020 National Consumer Law Center contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) Banks should not embrace this terrible idea, especially as they are borrowing for free Washington, D.C. – Today, under the cover of a national crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 26, 2020 CONTACT: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) Washington, D.C. – Late yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed a $2 trillion stimulus bill to assist businesses and families in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The package includes some helpful aid but it falls short in several critical consumer protection areas. "While the Senate [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 24, 2020 National Consumer Law Center Contacts: Sarah Bolling Mancini (smancini@nclc.org), Odette Williamson (owilliamson@nclc.org), or Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) Washington, D.C. - The National Consumer Law Center, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, and 40 other groups sent a letter today to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) seeking [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 20, 2020 National Consumer Law Center Contact: Jan Kruse at jkruse@nclc.org BOSTON―Today, advocates warn that the plan announced by the U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to allow borrowers with federally held student loans the option to suspend their payments falls far short of what is needed in this national crisis. [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2020 National Consumer Law Center Contact: Jan Kruse at jkruse@nclc.org Boston - Today, U.S. Senators Schumer, Murray, Brown, and Warren introduced a proposal outlining their plan to protect the financial interests of millions of student loan borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic by cancelling borrowers’ student loan payments and protecting defaulted [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2020 National Consumer Law Center contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) Boston - National Consumer Law Center advocates praised recent measures taken by the federal government to help homeowners remain in their homes and to protect their credit scores but said more needs to be done. The foreclosure relief announced yesterday in [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 13, 2020 National Consumer Law Center contact: Jan Kruse (jkruse@nclc.org) Boston - As concerns continue to grow about the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19), policymakers must act to protect those who are most economically vulnerable and to empower them with the financial safety net needed to follow public health precautions.  One [...]